Embark Ink, a business owned by three Indianola women, plans to expand its footprint in Indianola.

The recent winners of Warren County Economic Development Corporation's small business grant contest say they're going to use the $4,000 they won to hire the company's first employee.

Katie New, a 2001 graduate of Indianola High School, Molly Rogalla, IHS class of 1996, and Rosie Grover, who graduated from Simpson College in 1993, opened Embark Ink in New's basement in August of 2017.

The owners now say they're outgrowing the basement and they're planning to open a commercial location in the near future.

With the grant money, though, the women say they will purchase a new printing press that will allow more precise registration and improve quality, speed and consistency.

They're hoping since they can use the grant money to purchase the printing press Rogalla will soon become the business' first official employee soon.

Since Embark Ink opened, the owners have been working part-time for the business while not paying themselves in order to reinvest in the company.

The business offers items such as blankets, bags and various apparel. The business began as a reaction to area sports teams outsourcing business outside of central Iowa by ordering clothes and gear online.